Custom-decorated giftwrap, kit, and method of and system for custom-decorating the giftwrap

ABSTRACT

A custom-decorated giftwrap is made by feeding a folded sheet into a printer, while avoiding paper jams therein by holding together sheet portions of the sheet.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Serial No. 60/350,559, filed Nov. 13, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention generally relates to a custom-decoratedgiftwrap, a kit for making the giftwrap, and a method of and a systemfor custom-decorating the giftwrap.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Gift wrapping generally involves tearing a selected length ofdecorative paper from a supply roll, and snugly fitting it around a giftbox, typically after multiple cutting, shaping, folding and tapingoperations. The supply roll paper bears printed decorations designed bythe paper manufacturer. One must have many supply rolls having differentdecorations to be able to meet the need to wrap gift boxes for manydifferent occasions. Even if one were able to select from among amultitude of such supply rolls, the decorations on the selected roll arestill not unique to the gift recipient but, by necessity, need to besomewhat generic because the paper manufacturer wishes to sell adecorative paper having a wide appeal to the public at large.

[0006] It is known to custom-decorate various products with the aid of aprogrammable computer using design software that enables a computeroperator to create and print a custom creation. Such products includeparty invitations, greeting cards, gift and name cards, postcards,business cards, decals, puzzles, iron-on transfers, magnets, albums,calendars, mousepads, etc. What all these products have in common isthat they are fed as, or on, a flat, single sheet into a sheet-fedprinter, such as an ink jet printer. The sheet is of conventional paperstock size, e.g., 8-½″×11″ (letter size), 8-½×14″ (legal size), or8.3″×11.7″ (A-4 metric size). These sizes represent limiting factors interms of the maximum size of a custom-decorated product.

[0007] In the case where a printed product larger than such paper stocksizes is desired, for example, in printing a poster, it is known toprint out separate, multiple sheets of conventional size, and then totape the separate sheets together in a tiled relationship to create theposter. However, the taping together of separate sheets is inelegant andwhile perhaps, by necessity, acceptable in a poster, is not satisfactoryfor a gift wrap where an elegant gift presentation is paramount. It isalso known to print a banner on paper having a standard width, but whoselength is determined by having a user tear the paper along score linesprovided at spaced intervals lengthwise of the paper. However, suchpaper does not have clean sharp edges along the tear line.

[0008] It is further known to print large area sheets on wide formatprinters that are designed to handle such large sheets. For example,photographic quality glossy paper having sizes of 17″×22″ (ANSI-C size)are fed as flat, single sheets into special purpose printers to createposters, calendars, and photographic presentations. It is also known toprint on panoramic photo paper having sizes of 8.3″×23.4″.

[0009] Other methods of printing on paper products and making paperproducts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,996,184, 5,887,366 and6,095,919.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0010] One object of this invention is to provide a custom-decoratedgiftwrap unique to the recipient, a kit for making the giftwrap, and amethod of and a system for custom-decorating the giftwrap.

[0011] Another object of this invention is to enable a computer user,especially in the home, to easily create a unique giftwrap for use inwrapping a gift box.

[0012] Still another object of this invention is to enable a gift giverto assist a gift recipient in celebrating a special occasion in stylewith a personalized, gift-wrapped present.

FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

[0013] In keeping with these objects, and others which will becomeapparent hereinafter, one feature of this invention resides, brieflystated, in a method of and a system for custom-decorating giftwrap, inwhich a foldable sheet is formed with a plurality of integral sheetportions or panels, each having a width commensurate with a width ofconventional paper stock, for example, eight and one-half inches, and alength longer than a length of conventional paper stock, for example,eleven inches.

[0014] According to this invention, at least one of the sheet portionsis folded about a fold line over another of the sheet portions so thatthe overlapping sheet portions are of equal area. Preferably, two outersheet portions are folded over a central sheet portion in a C-shapedfolded configuration about two mutually parallel fold lines. The foldedsheet portions are maintained in a closed state. For example, anadhesive may be applied to an area of one of the overlapping sheetportions. Adhesive contact is made between the overlapping sheetportions, typically by pressing them together. Preferably, the adhesiveis a pressure-sensitive light adhesive capable of maintaining theoverlapping sheet portions together in the closed state, and of enablingthe sheet portions to be easily peeled apart to an open state.Preferably, the adhesive is applied along peripheral free edges of thesheet portions, either at selected zones or continuously along the freeedges. Alternatively, a double-sided adhesive carrier can be placedbetween the overlapping sheet portions. Also, a single-sided adhesivetape can be adhered exteriorly around the overlapping sheet portions toadhere them in the closed state.

[0015] Instead of an adhesive, a tacky, non-slip coating, or anyfriction-enhancing substance, can be applied between the overlappingsheet portions to hold them in the closed state.

[0016] The folded sheet, with the overlapping sheet portions maintainedtogether in the closed state, is fed in a longitudinal direction ofinsertion into a sheet-fed printer of the type used at home, which iscontrolled by a programmable computer. Each fold extends along thelongitudinal direction. A computer operator designs a custom decorationon the computer with the aid of a design program, either sold separatelyor as part of the kit. The custom decoration is thereupon printed on thefolded sheet. The folded sheet may also be preprinted with some indicia.

[0017] The size of the printed sheet is no longer limited toconventional paper stock sizes. Printing is performed on each sheetportion and multiple printings may be performed on each sheet portion.When unfolded, the printed sheet is much larger in area than theconventional paper stock.

[0018] Heretofore, as far as I am aware, longitudinally folded paper wasnever longitudinally fed into the printer. The reason is that paper jamswould inevitably occur as the automatic feeder of the printer tended topreferentially grab one of the sheet portions, while leaving anothersheet portion behind. Paperjams occur all too frequently in a stack ofseparate sheets—a situation made all the more worse if two adjacentsheets were connected together along a fold. Hence, oversized printedsheets, i.e., larger in area than the conventional stock sizes, were notprinted and, as a result, could not be used as a giftwrap since the giftwrapping of most gift boxes requires an oversized sheet.

[0019] The use of the adhesive, tacky coating, or friction-enhancingsubstance to maintain the sheet portions together according to thisinvention avoids the aforementioned paper jamming drawback since thesheet portions travel as a unit through the printer and provide aconsistent paper feed through the printer. Also, in the case of a sheethaving more than one fold such as the C-shaped configuration describedabove, it is sometimes possible to eliminate the adhesive, coating, orsubstance altogether, since the interleaved sheet portions tend to holdthemselves in place. A custom-decorated giftwrap can now be easilydesigned and used to enable special occasions to be celebrated in stylewith a personalized decoration unique to the recipient, and not dictatedby the paper manufacturer.

[0020] The novel features which are considered as characteristic of theinvention are set forth herein. The invention itself, however, both asto its construction and its method of operation, together withadditional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood fromthe following description of specific embodiments when read inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a folded sheetbeing fed to a printer during the making of a giftwrap according to thisinvention;

[0022]FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

[0023]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the giftwrap after printing;

[0024]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the giftwrap of FIG. 3 after beingwrapped about a gift box;

[0025]FIG. 5 is a view analogous to FIG. 2, but of another embodiment;and

[0026]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a giftwrap kit according to thisinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Reference numeral 10 depicts an inkjet printer of conventionaldesign and connected to a computer 12. A folded sheet 20 is depictedduring insertion into a paper loading tray 14 of the printer. Asexplained below, the folded sheet 20 will be printed with a customdecoration, e.g., multiple printings of the designation “Happy BirthdaySue”, to form the giftwrap depicted in FIG. 3. Thereupon, the giftwrapis fitted around a giftbox, as shown in FIG. 4, to complete thepersonalized gift presentation.

[0028] The printer 10, which could also be a laser jet printer, is ofthe size and type commonly found at home, wherein the maximum paperwidth (W) is 8-½″. The folded sheet 20 has at least two panels or sheetportions, namely an upper sheet portion 22 and a lower sheet portion 24,both of equal area and folded about a longitudinal fold line 23 tooverlap each other. Preferably, the folded sheet 20 has a third panel orsheet portion, namely middle sheet portion 26, of equal area to theother sheet portions and folded about a longitudinal fold line 25 tooverlap the lower sheet portion. As shown in FIG. 2, the preferredembodiment of the folded sheet has a C-shaped configuration, with themiddle sheet portion 26 being sandwiched between the upper and lower,outer sheet portions 22, 24.

[0029] The folded sheet is constituted of a single sheet of paper,preferably having a photograde quality, glossy coating on an exteriorsurface, and a plain non-coated, opposite interior surface. Upper sheetportion 22 has leading and trailing sections 22A, B. Lower sheet portion24 has leading and trailing sections 24A, B. Middle sheet portion 26 hasleading and trailing sections 26A, B. Folded sheet 20 has a length (L)which is the sum of the lengths of the sections 22A, B or 24A, B or 26A,B. Each section is of conventional stock size, i.e., 8-½″×11″, 8-½″×14″,or 8.3″×11.7″. Hence, the length L of the folded sheet 20 is 22″, 28″ or23.4″.

[0030] Folded sheet 20 has transverse leading edge regions 30,transverse trailing edge regions 32, and longitudinal side edge regions34 at its peripheral regions. A pressure-sensitive adhesive 40 isapplied to selected zones along the peripheral regions on interiorsurfaces of the folded sheet. The zones can be individual adhesive spotsspaced apart from one another, or a continuous strip. The adhesive canbe applied at one or more of the edge regions 30, 32, 34. The adhesiveis preferably a light tacky adhesive of the type marketed by the 3MCompany in its POST-IT™ notepads and is capable of adhering the upper,lower and middle sheet portions 22, 24, 26 together in a closed state(FIG. 2) suitable for printing, and of enabling the upper, lower andmiddle sheet portions to be peeled apart to an open state (FIG. 3)suitable for gift wrapping.

[0031] Instead of applying the adhesive 40 directly to the interiorsurfaces of the folded sheet, a double-sided adhesive carrier can beinserted between the sheet portions 22, 24, 26 to maintain them in theclosed state after being pressed together. Also, a single-sided tape canbe wrapped around the exteriors of the sheet portions 22, 24, 26 tomaintain them in the closed state. Preferably, the tape is positioned atthe leading and trailing corners of the sheet portions that are furthestaway from each fold. However, the tape could also be positioned alongthe transverse leading and trailing edge regions 30, 32, eitherentirely, or at spaced-apart zones, along the regions 30, 32.

[0032] Instead of an adhesive, any tacky or non-slip coating, orfriction-enhancing substance, could be employed. In some cases, the useof the adhesive, coating or substance can be eliminated, especially inthe case of a sheet having multiple, interleaved sheet portions whichtend to hold one another in place by surface area contact.

[0033]FIG. 6 depicts a kit including at least one sheet 20, andpreferably a plurality of sheets 20, preferably prefolded and alreadyapplied with the adhesive 40 or like holder. The kit also includes asoftware program, shown on a compact disc 36, which when loaded onto thecomputer 12, enables the operator to design and create a personalizeddecoration. This program is analogous to the myriad conventional designprograms for creating designs on greeting cards.

[0034] Once the personalized decoration has been custom-made for thegift recipient, the folded sheet 20 is fed along the longitudinaldirection into the tray 14 so that the section 22A is printed first withthe decoration. Thereupon, the folded sheet is turned around by 180°,and fed into the tray 14 so that section 22B is printed next. Thereupon,the folded sheet is turned upside down so that section 24A is printed.Thereupon, the folded sheet is turned around by 180° so that section 24Bis printed. Next, the middle sheet portion is exposed from itssandwiched position by folding the upper sheet portion 22 upwardly outof the way to a first vertical position, by folding the middle sheetportion 26 upwardly out of the way to a second vertical position whichis parallel to the first vertical position, by laying the upper sheetportion 22 down onto the lower sheet portion 24, and by laying themiddle sheet portion 26 down onto the upper sheet portion22. Then, theexposed middle sheet portion is fed in opposite directions through theprinter to separately print on sections 26A, 26B. The giftwrap of FIG. 3is created by feeding the folded sheet six times through the printer,once for each section. It is currently preferred to print sections22A,B, sections 24A,B, and sections 26A,B in three respective passesthrough the printer.

[0035] If each section of the folded sheet 20 in FIG. 3 measures8-½″×11″, then the overall unfolded sheet measures 25-½″×22″ which isadequate for many gift-wrapping purposes. If legal size paper is used,then the overall dimensions of the unfolded sheet measures 25-½″×28″. Ifstill larger gift-wraps are desired, then instead of using a doublefolded sheet as depicted in FIG. 2, one can use a triple folded sheet,or a sheet with more than three folds. For a smaller gift wrap, a singlefolded sheet 50 having upper and lower sheet portions 22,24 foldableabout a single fold line 23 may be used. Again, the adhesive 40 or likeholder may be used to hold the sheet portions together, as depicted inFIG. 5.

[0036] It will be appreciated that printing is performed on a singlepiece of paper larger than stock sizes without having to tape together aplurality of separate sheets, without having to tear banner paper to aselected length, without having to use wide format printers that canhandle large format paper, as well as without incurring paper jams inthe printer since the folded sheet passes through the printer in afolded, closed condition.

[0037] Variations of the invention include folding the sheet with morethan two longitudinal folds to achieve even larger sized gift-wraps,using material other than paper as the media to be printed, using afloppy disc instead of the compact disc 36 to store the program, andeliminating the software program entirely and using a graphics programalready installed on most home computers, or by accessing a graphicsprogram accessible at a website on the Internet. The decoration itselfis left to the operation's imagination and need not be limited to thetextual message described above. Indeed, any images, includingphotographs, already stored on the computer can be imported and printedon the folded sheet Some indicia can be preprinted on the sheet.

[0038] Still another variation of this invention is to vary the length Lof the folded sheet 20. As described, the length is two times the lengthof a stock sheet, since there are two sections 22A,B; 24A,B; and 26A,Bfor the sheet portions 22, 24 and 26. The length is, in the preferredembodiment, three times the length of a stock sheet, and each sheetportion is comprised of three sections. For an 8-½×11″ stock sheet, thelength L of such a folded sheet 20 is 33″.

[0039] As mentioned, it is preferred if the sheet is prefolded andprecoated with the adhesive. Nevertheless, it is also contemplated thatthe user may wish to perform these functions by being provided withdouble-sided adhesive carriers, or single-sided adhesive tapes, and bybeing instructed to position the carriers or tapes on the prefoldedsheet. The user may even be instructed to fold the sheet itself.

[0040] It will be understood that each of the elements described above,or two or more together, also may find a useful application in othertypes of constructions differing from the types described above.

[0041] It will be appreciated that the instant invention need not belimited to applications involving gift wrapping, since the printing on afolded sheet can have myriad other applications. For example, one maywant to print a spreadsheet spanning a plurality of stock sheet pagesusing a conventional deskjet printer which can only accommodate thewidth of a single stock sheet. In this case, the folding of the sheetinto a corresponding plurality of sheet portions and the holdingtogether of the sheet portions during the feeding and printingoperations, enables the oversized spreadsheet to be printed.

[0042] While the invention has been illustrated and described asembodied in a system and method for custom-decorating a giftwrap, it isnot intended to be limited to the details shown, since variousmodifications and structural changes may be made without departing inany way from the spirit of the present invention.

[0043] Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal thegist of the present invention that others can, by applying currentknowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omittingfeatures that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constituteessential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of thisinvention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the present invention.

[0044] What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by LettersPatent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A method of custom-decorating giftwrap, comprising the stepsof: a) folding a single sheet into a folded sheet having a longitudinalfold and overlapping integral sheet portions; b) holding the sheetportions together to form a closed state for the folded sheet; c)loading the folded sheet in the closed state along a longitudinaldirection lengthwise of the fold in a sheet-fed printer under control bya computer; d) designing a custom decoration by using the computer; ande) printing the custom decoration on at least one of the sheet portionsas the folded sheet in the closed state is fed, and passes withoutjamming, along the longitudinal direction through the printer duringprinting.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the folding and holdingsteps are performed by a user.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thefolding and holding steps are performed by a manufacturer of the sheet.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the designing step is performed by auser of the computer by accessing a design program loaded on thecomputer.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing step isperformed on each sheet portion during successive passes through theprinter.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the folding step is performedby folding the sheet portions to be of equal area.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the holding step is performed by application of apressure-sensitive adhesive on at least a selected zone between thesheet portions.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sheet-fed printerhas a loading tray for receiving sheet stock having a maximum width, andwherein the folding step is performed by forming each sheet portion witha width commensurate to said maximum width.
 9. A system forcustom-decorating giftwrap, comprising: a) a folded single sheet havinga longitudinal fold and overlapping integral sheet portions heldtogether in a closed state; b) a sheet-fed printer under control by acomputer and having a loading tray for receiving the folded sheet in theclosed state along a longitudinal direction; c) means for operating thecomputer to design a custom decoration; and d) means for actuating theprinter to print the custom decoration on at least one of the sheetportions as the folded sheet in the closed state is fed, and passeswithout jamming, along the longitudinal direction through the printerduring printing.
 10. A custom-decorating giftwrap kit, comprising: a) atleast one single sheet foldable into a folded sheet having alongitudinal fold and overlapping integral sheet portions held togetherto form a closed state for the folded sheet; and b) a computer-readablemedium for containing a design program for designing a custom decorationon a computer operative for controlling a sheet-fed printer throughwhich the folded sheet in the closed state is fed along a longitudinaldirection lengthwise of the fold.
 11. A custom-decorated giftwrap,comprising: a) a folded single sheet having a longitudinal fold andoverlapping integral sheet portions held together in a closed state, andpeelable apart to an open, unfolded state; and b) a custom decorationprinted on at least one of the sheet portions in the closed state, andvisible in the open state.
 12. A method of wrapping a custom-decoratedgiftwrap around an object, comprising the steps of: a) folding a singlesheet into a folded sheet having a longitudinal fold and overlappingintegral sheet portions; b) holding the sheet portions together to forma closed state for the folded sheet; c) loading the folded sheet in theclosed state along a longitudinal direction lengthwise of the fold in asheet-fed printer under control by a computer; d) designing a customdecoration by using the computer; e) printing the custom decoration onat least one of the sheet portions as the folded sheet in the closedstate is fed, and passes without jamming, along the longitudinaldirection through the printer during printing; f) unfolding the foldedsheet to an open state by peeling the sheet portions apart; and g)covering the object with the unfolded sheet in the open state.
 13. Amethod of printing, comprising the steps of: a) folding a single sheetinto a folded sheet having a longitudinal fold and overlapping integralsheet portions; b) holding the sheet portions together to form a closedstate for the folded sheet; c) loading the folded sheet in the closedstate along a longitudinal direction lengthwise of the fold in asheet-fed printer under control by a computer; and d) printing on all ofthe sheet portions.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the folding stepis performed by folding the sheet into overlapping integral sheetportions of equal area.